Friday, September 14, 2007

My Top 101 (2007 Edition)

I've never gotten the point of making a distinction between a "best" and "favorite" movies list. My favorite movies are the best ones I've ever seen, that's why I love them so. Of course, the pleasure of making and sharing such a list is to find out what it (perhaps unwittingly) reveals about oneself. For instance, if Miller's Crossing ranks above Barton Fink this year, it's not because it's suddenly the superior movie - the movies don't change, but we do (this same process of rediscovery is one of the best things about film writing on the internet). So the changes this year are made up of films I'd never seen, films that landed closer to the heart than they had before (Tokyo Story is very different when you're a parent), and films I just plain overlooked last year (how the hell did I forget Touch of Evil?).

The goal every time I revise my list is to create a sort of representative collage of what cinema is to me at this moment. Glancing at the list, I know that I dig monsters, cowboys, ambiguity, sex, aliens and Freedonia. And I sure have a hard-on for the 1970's. Making the list is more and more like Sophie's Choice every year - I've seen at least 150-200 movies I'd consider perfect, and an alternate list of the next 101 would possibly make an interesting side project. But I'll remain disciplined for now; here are my 101 favorite best movies.

13 comments:

Jenny
said...

Man, I had to turn Blue velvet off after Dennis Hopper uttered the lyrics to In Dreams to Kyle Mclaclyn. It was horrifying! Would you say that the movie's misogynist in the way it protrays Rosalinni's character though?

No I don't, and I think that oft-repeated criticism stems from Blue Velvet adapting a male perspective. All of Lynch's films have an extremely subjective POV, and his more recent work, which more frequently takes a female perspective, renders this charge irrelevant in my mind. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, for instance, is a favorite of women who have been sexually abused. Anyway, I find Blue Velvet, for all its weirdness, to be a very moral film, and Lynch a director who has too much empathy to objectify his characters, male or female.

Frankly, though, I'm not sure if misogyny in and of itself would prevent me from appreciating a film. Peckinpah was pretty contemptuous of women, but a film like Straw Dogs is an exploration of his anger. I don't need a director to be a well-adjusted person, I just expect a director to be honest.

Another point about Blue Velvet, is that as an exploration of conventional cinema women as sex objects is a time honoured tradition. Lynch brings us with immediacy face to what Hollywood has been feeding viewers since it's existence, and rightfully makes it horrifying.

As much as I love these lists, I rarely know what to do with them. So here is a breakdown of some "thoughts" (more like lists). I'm happy to elaborate on anything if askedFilms I'd give a perfect score:3. Nashville (Robert Altman, 1975)8. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)16. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1975)30. Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 1962)32. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)36. Aguirre the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)37. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)39. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)54. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)63. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)71. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)76. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)85. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)101. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)

I'm always amazed that people can put together lists like this and I was glad to read your intro about it being what you were thinking at the time. Everytime someone asks me what my favorite movie is I often say "Citizen Kane" and then something wierd like "The Thing" because, of hand, those tend to hold up for me no matter what. But, if hard pressed I'd watch a Marx Bros. film over Kane most days of the week.

I really enjoy your acceptance of the fluidity of taste. I know so many "movie geeks" who say "This is what I like and it will never change. So, you are always wrong.". I think, and I think you do too, that taste is extremely subjective and it had a lot of room for growth and change. Who we are changes so much from year to year, why shouldn't our favorite media change with them? People tend to use movies, books, and music to help them understand what is going on in their lives and that is never static. This was a long winded way to say that I am glad we're friends.